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Little Green Men/Background Information
| }} /Credits|Credits}} /Gallery|Gallery}} /Transcript|Transcript}} /Background Information|Background Information}} }} Production *Originally, the idea for this episode was to send Mulder to Moscow herein, with Chris Carter writing the script. However, these plans did not pan out. After some discussion, Carter notified Glen Morgan and James Wong they could write the second season première. "It was a very nice gesture on Chris' part," expressed Wong, "in boosting our confidence and telling us how much he appreciates us." (Starlog #210, p. 64) *As the X-files had been shut down in the Season 1 finale, "The Erlenmeyer Flask", Glen Morgan and James Wong felt this episode "had to be kind of a new pilot," stated Morgan, in the sense of altering the established ground rules of the series. ( , p. 163) Wong elaborated that, because Mulder had been beaten hard by the death of Deep Throat and the closing of the X-Files Unit in the earlier episode, the writers "wanted Mulder to question himself." Wong added, "Also, you had to answer the logistical questions, what's Scully doing now, what's Mulder doing now." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 58) *The writers changed the story so Mulder would no longer be sent to Russia. (Cinefantastique, Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 52) Instead, the episode took its cue from a feature film which Glen Morgan had been attempting to write. He recalled, "I had written a script a long time ago on my own called 'Little Green Men' that was about a guy who had gone down to a telescope in Chile. It was never made, but there were many elements that I liked." (The Complete X-Files: Behind the Series, the Myths and the Movies, p. 55) Continued Morgan, "We liked the idea so much that we decided to do it for Mulder." (X-Files Confidential, p. 90) *This episode facilitated a long-held wish of Glen Morgan's, as he was very interested in writing a story which had a SETI background; Morgan had wanted to write such a story for the show's first season, involving Deep Throat, though the idea had not developed beyond the discussion stage. (Starlog #210, p. 64 & 63) Regarding this episode, Morgan stated, "I was irked that the government had shut down the SETI project and I wanted to address that." (X-Files Confidential, p. 90) Morgan also hoped this outing would inspire school children to learn more about SETI, as the episode "was factual as to what exists." (Starlog #210, p. 64) *Glen Morgan believed the "most important" aspect of this episode's conceptual development was that it was written as a way of focusing on David Duchovny's character of Mulder, since the actor had been impressed by the Scully-centred episode "Beyond the Sea" and wondered when an equivalent installment might be written for his own character. "Well, I liked him, he deserved it, and I thought that's what 'Little Green Men' was trying to be," Morgan related. (X-Files Confidential, p. 90) *Although showing an alien directly on-screen was something Chris Carter had resisted doing at first, he thought this season première "seemed a good time to do it." ("Chris Carter Talks About Season Two: Little Green Men", The X-Files (season 2) DVD special features) James Wong and Glen Morgan attempted to depict Mulder's close encounter with an alien here as questionable. Explained Morgan, "We were trying to work up the notion, 'Was that even there? Is this real?' .... Earlier in the show Mulder has said to Scully, 'I'm starting to doubt that my sister was abducted.' So you're trying to say, 'Is this in his head? Do we create these kinds of fear ourselves? " (X-Files Confidential, pp. 90-91) Morgan stipulated that, essentially, one of the themes he and Wong wanted to convey is "the idea that we all have to fight our own little green men and carry on." (Starlog #210, p. 64) *Senator Matheson's first name was Richard in this episode's script, but the name did not make it into the final episode. The character was nevertheless named after Richard Matheson, a science fiction and horror writer who worked on the Kolchak: The Night Stalker films, which originally inspired The X-Files. ("Chris Carter Talks About Season Two: Little Green Men", The X-Files (season 2) DVD special features) *Initially, Senator Matheson was to have recited this episode's opening monologue. However, the identity of the narrator was ultimately changed to Mulder. ( , p. 163) *The Arecibo forest was portrayed with Seymour Demonstration Forest, in North Vancouver. Florida airport was represented with the Plaza of Nations, at 770 Pacific Boulevard, South Vancouver. (X Marks the Spot (On Location with The X-Files), p. 55) *David Nutter found the challenge of directing this episode wasn't an easy one. "I thought 'Little Green Men' was a tough show to do," he conceded. This was because Nutter had grown nervous of tackling The X-Files, due to it having become extremely popular between its first and second seasons. "I wanted to avoid the pitfalls of these shows that become phenomenons – really hot – and then fade away really quickly. I, like everybody else, wanted this to be a long-running program." (X-Files Confidential, p. 91) *For Producer Joseph Patrick Finn, possibly the hardest part of this episode's creation was attempting to represent Puerto Rico in Vancouver. (X-Files Confidential, p. 91) *The episode's shoot included one day at the Plaza of Nations. "The gods were on our side that day," reckoned Location Manager Louisa Gradnitzer, "except when the steel drum performers set up for their daily performance on the Plaza outside the building, but they agreed to refrain from playing during takes." (X Marks the Spot (On Location with The X-Files), p. 55) Goofs *Although most of "Little Green Men" takes place in the Puerto Rican rainforest, the episode includes the typical Canadian vegetation of its filming locations; as Mulder runs after Jorge, birch trees can be seen in the background, and as Mulder and Scully drive away in the end, tall conifers border the dirt road all around. Despite being satisfied with making Vancouver woodland seem believable as Puerto Rican rainforest, J.P. Finn noted, "If you look closely you'll see pine trees in the back." (X-Files Confidential, p. 91) *During the 1973 flashback, Young Fox Mulder is wearing a Bernard King #30 Nets jersey. However, King wasn't drafted until 1977. Trivia *This episode set a template for further communication between the two main characters. Chris Carter specified, "It established what was going to be the Scully–Mulder relationship for at least the first eight episodes." (X-Files Confidential, p. 90) *Near the start of this episode, Mulder listens to a conversation in which a stripper named Tuesday is mentioned. In Millennium s pilot episode, a stripper named Tuesday is seen dancing, and is later interviewed by Frank Black in regard to another dancer's murder. *The scene in which Samantha Mulder is abducted differs from Mulder's recollection of the incident from a 1989 hypnotic regression tape that Scully listens to in the Season 1 episode "Conduit" as well as Mulder's recollection in "Pilot". Mulder supposedly recalled being paralyzed in bed while his sister was abducted, but this episode shows them playing a board game called Stratego before the incident. This was due to Morgan and Wong writing this episode without having first seen "Conduit", written by Howard Gordon and Alex Gansa. However, according to Chris Carter, a possible explanation for this inconsistency may be due to the fact that Mulder's memories were derived from hypnotic regression and were therefore vague. ( , p. 163) Commented Morgan, "Chris Carter made that up later. Once we realized it discrepancy, I ran into Howard's office and said, 'Why didn't you say anything?' And he said, 'Didn't you read my script?' It was pretty embarrassing." (Sci-Fi Universe #10, p. 35) Video footage of Mulder undergoing hypnosis is included in the Season 7 episode "Closure", in which his memory of Samantha's abduction matches the version of events seen here. *In the pilot episode of The X-Files, Mulder states, "The only reason I've been allowed to continue with my work is because I've made connections in Congress." In this episode, Senator Matheson represents an example of those aforementioned contacts. *Senator Matheson later appears in the Season 3 episode "Nisei" and, finally, the Season 6 episode "S.R. 819". He is also referenced in "Ascension" and "731", the sequel to "Nisei". *While Scully searches for Mulder, she reads an airline passenger manifest that contains the names of many early on-line X-Philes, including Cliff Chen and Pat Gonzalez, as well as The X-Files novel author Charles Grant. *This episode was used extensively in Jorge Ignacio Cortiñas' play Recent Alien Abductions, which premiered at the 41st Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville in 2017. In the play, a Puerto Rican man is convinced that the episode has been altered from when it was originally broadcast due to a vast government/ Hollywood/ alien conspiracy. *The Arecibo observatory is the same as used for the climatic scenes of the 1995 James Bond film Goldeneye. Reception *At first, this episode wasn't received well by the Fox network. Remembered Glen Morgan, "When they saw the first cut, without music or sound effects–and sound is very important to that episode–they asked us if there was another episode that could be reviewed instead of that one. That just sent us into a fit of depression for two days." (Cinefantastique, Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 58) *The scene in which Mulder apparently witnesses an extraterrestrial provoked varying reactions from Glen Morgan and James Wong. The idea had resonance for Wong, who said, "When Mulder saw the alien, for me that was what this whole series is about. What are your little green men? What do you concoct in your mind that you're afraid of, or that you need to face?" (Cinefantastique, Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 58) Morgan thought the same sequence ultimately wasn't ambiguous enough, though. He critiqued, "I don't think it came across as well as we wanted it to .... At some point in editing I realized that it didn't play that way." (X-Files Confidential, p. 90) *David Nutter was happy with this episode. "I thought the introduction of the show was wonderful," he enthused, "and I loved the paranoia we were able to generate in that episode, especially during the first meeting between Mulder and Scully. I thought Mulder was very good in the scene with Senator Matheson. There was also a lot of action, what with the car chase and all. I also very much liked the bookending of the show, opening with Mulder on a mundane surveillance assignment and closing the same way." (X-Files Confidential, p. 91) *J.P. Finn also deemed this outing a success, including the efforts to make Vancouver woodland double as Puerto Rico, saying, "I guess we pulled illusion off .... Anyway, a great little show to get going with. A typical ''X-Files show, where more is suggested than you actually see." (X-Files Confidential, p. 91) *Chris Carter likewise had high regard for this installment. "''The writers did a very nice job of keeping several different tensions going here," he remarked. "There are three different, kind of, storylines working in this episode, which keeps it good and taut, and it was, I think, a great season opener and a terrific way to launch into season two." ("Chris Carter Talks About Season Two: Little Green Men", The X-Files (season 2) DVD special features) Carter said further, "I thought the script by Glen and Jim and the direction of David Nutter were terrific, and that David and Gillian's performances were excellent. I'm very proud of that show as a season opener." (X-Files Confidential, p. 90) *This episode achieved a Nielsen household rating of 10.3, with an audience share of 19. This means that roughly 10.3 percent of all television-equipped households, and 19 percent of households watching television, were tuned in to the episode. It was viewed by 9.8 million households. ( , p. 249) The episode's initial broadcast seemed to signal the start of an increased audience interest in The X-Files. R.W. Goodwin remembered, "When we came back at the beginning of the second season, there was suddenly a whole lot more people watching than we were used to." ("The Erlenmeyer Flask" audio commentary, The X-Files Mythology, Volume 1 - Abduction special features) *''Cinefantastique'' (Vol. 26/27, No. 6/1, p. 58) rates this episode 3 and a half out of 4 stars. The magazine remarks, " Little Green Men' is a beautiful episode .... Duchovny's acting, particularly in the fear-drenched scenes set at the SETI station in Puerto Rico, is terrific. The flashback to Samantha's abduction is a wrenching sequence .... The scenes with Skinner are wonderful, and one wants to stand up and cheer when Skinner kicks the Cigarette Smoking Man out of his office." * ( ) rated this episode 7 out of 10 "X"s. This is one of only two episodes which the magazine reviewed in this way, the other being "Pilot". The magazine additionally called this installment "creepy and assured," containing "much interesting information about the various real-life SETI projects." *In his reference book , writer Robert Shearman scored this episode 5 out of 5 stars. He opined, "What makes 'Little Green Men' so brilliant is that it emphasises just what the absence of the X-Files has done, not only on ... an intellectual level, but to Mulder and Scully .... This is Duchovny's best performance yet .... Here he approaches the role with a fresh confidence and a real verve. It's as if in the season break Duchovny has realised what the series is about, and how he can take centre stage in it. It's a new confidence shared across the board .... This is a ''fantastic script, unsensational and subtle as it may be, which reinvigorates the series and its themes with great aplomb .... This does play like a pilot, and a very good one .... Mitch Pileggi has also undergone a transformation .... He now feels like a core player. That's quite an achievement in only his second episode .... It's not an episode that The X-Files fans were expecting, and its reputation isn't great. But I think this clever and claustrophobic little tale, which does so much not only to refresh the show but to analyse what it's actually about, is one of the very best." Cast and Characters *Senator Matheson was originally to have been played by Darren McGavin, of ''Kolchak: The Night Stalker fame. ( , p. 163) Though a casting director from The X-Files specifically arranged for McGavin's agent to ensure he was available for this episode, a mix-up caused this not to happen. (X-Files Confidential, pp. 91-92) *During the making of this episode, Scully actress Gillian Anderson was heavily pregnant. Hence, Scully keeps her long overcoat on even in Puerto Rico. ( ) *Les Carlson (Dr. Troisky) previously played Dr. Spitz in The X-Files episode "Born Again". *Deryl Hayes (Agent Morris) previously played Webster in The X-Files episode "Shadows". *Dwight McFee (Commander) previously played David Gates in The X-Files episode "Shapes". *Lisa Anne Beley (Student) previously played Beatrice Salinger in The X-Files episode "Miracle Man". *Gary Hetherington (Lewin) previously played Kennedy in The X-Files episode "Squeeze".